


Summer in the Underworld

by Secret Staircase (elwing_alcyone)



Category: Zero: Akai Chou | Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly
Genre: Codependency, Crack Treated Seriously, Dark Magic, Gen, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-14
Updated: 2016-12-14
Packaged: 2019-01-05 09:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12187068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elwing_alcyone/pseuds/Secret%20Staircase
Summary: Fearing she'll lose Mio, Mayu takes inspiration from a mysterious old book she finds in Kei's study.





	Summer in the Underworld

**Author's Note:**

> Written for BCL's 2016 Christmas Exchange, for a guy who really likes zombies and yandere Mayu. This could be read as taking place after the Promise ending, or just an AU where Mio and Mayu never find the Lost Village, whichever you prefer.

Mayu finds the book in Kei's study. She notices it because it's old, really old — not like the glossy proof-copies of his own works, or the well-thumbed reference books, or even the yellowed second-hand library books that fill the rest of the shelves. This book looks like an antique. She takes it more out of curiosity than anything.

At first she can't even tell what it's about. There's no title on the cover, only the author's surname stamped in gold on the spine. The flyleaf is all in German.

Flipping through, she thinks perhaps it's a recipe book, or a record of scientific experiments, from the way many pages seem to be taken up with lists of components. Or the diary of an inventor or mathematician, from the complicated geometric diagrams. But then some of the diagrams look more anatomical, so perhaps a doctor's notes? Or — she turns the book sideways and squints at the engraving — a bestiary?

And then all at once she knows what it is.

Downstairs, she hears the sound of a key in the front door, and Kei and Mio calling up to her. Without thinking, she shoves the book under her mattress and goes to help them unpack the shopping.

* * *

For the next two days her main concern is getting the book back to Kei's study before he notices it's gone. She can't tell why she's being so secretive about it; it's not as if he minds her borrowing his books. It's not like he'd immediately assume his teenage niece was thinking about casting spells, just because she was reading a 17th century grimoire.

That would be ridiculous.

Then something happens to change her priorities.

Mayu and Mio are walking home from school, as they always do — slowly, because of Mayu's leg — and then, without warning, someone else is walking beside them. It's one of the boys from their class. Mayu thinks his name is Sosuke, but she never has to use it, because he doesn't talk to her. He talks to Mio.

He starts by asking if Mio wrote down the literature homework. But then, after she's told him, he just keeps walking beside them, looking at Mio. He stays with them all the way to the level crossing before peeling off in a different direction.

That night while Mio's in the shower, Mayu pulls the book out again and looks at it, thoughtful and speculative. The diagrams make more sense now she knows what sort of book it is, and Kei probably has a German dictionary somewhere.

No. Stupid. She hides the book again, wondering what she's thinking. Magic isn't real. And even if it were, she'd never...

Because Mio would never...

Right?

* * *

The next day is ballet class. As usual, Mayu watches from the sidelines, pretending to do the flexibility exercises her physical therapist showed her, but really watching Mio. She wonders what it would be like to move like that, so light and graceful. If it were her, she might forget everything and just lose herself in the dancing, but Mio never does, of course; she's always looking back at Mayu, their eyes meeting in the mirrors.

After class, as everyone heads for the changing rooms, the dance instructor takes Mio aside. They speak in low voices, but the practice hall is nearly empty by then, and the acoustics carry their words to Mayu quite clearly.

The instructor says, "I know you see this as a hobby, but if you took it seriously, you could take it to the next level. You just have to let go of distractions and concentrate on yourself, not whoever might be watching." At this, her eyes flick towards Mayu. "Think about it, will you?"

Mio is very quiet as they make their way home. Maybe it's nothing. Or maybe she's thinking about that next level — advanced classes, performances, long hours of training, maybe one day applying to dancing school. One thing's for sure: there's no room for Mayu in that future.

"Digging through my books again?" Kei says that night, laughing, as Mayu walks out of his study with the German dictionary under one arm. "Pretty soon you'll be ghost-writing my articles. I can retire early."

She smiles back. "Maybe sooner than you think."

* * *

It takes a month. Mayu knows a month is really a very short time, but still, it feels long. A month of Sosuke walking home with them, walking just a little too fast, so Mayu is always a couple of steps behind. A month of Mio practising her footwork when she thinks no one's looking. A month, without even knowing if any of this will work.

And then, on their way to school on a foggy winter morning, Mio stops.

There's someone up ahead, trudging up the hill. He's walking away from them, but so slowly that even at Mayu's pace they were starting to catch up, till Mio stopped. The fog makes it difficult to tell, but his clothes seem to be hanging from his body in rags.

Mayu slips her arm through Mio's. "Maybe we should go a different way," she says.

Her voice is low, but the man ahead of them reacts. He stops walking, casting his head about, and then starts to turn towards them. His movements are jerky, but no longer as slow. He doesn't, as yet, start to come after them, but from twenty feet away, he _leans_ , and stretches out his arms, and grabs at the empty air.

Mayu doesn't have to say anything. Mio is already gripping her shoulder, turning her around and propelling her back the way they came.

"It's quicker to go home," she says, trying to sound determined, not scared. "Kei will drive us to school if we tell him there's a weird guy hanging around. Maybe we should call the police."

Mayu's leg hurts with the effort of keeping up, but Mio's arm is wrapped around her shoulders. She turns her face away and smiles.

* * *

It happens very quickly after that. Mayu has always sensed how fast things can fall apart, but now she can watch it happening on TV, until the signal cuts out. Even when the images are gone, she can see it in her head.

She knows she's done a terrible thing, and that she can't take it back. She knows she'll probably regret it, one day. It's terrifying, and sad, and people out there are dying because of what she did. There's blood in the gutters, body parts in the streets. She can't pretend she didn't know what the consequences would be.

She also knows that they will probably never see Sosuke again, and Mio hasn't mentioned dancing since she threw her pointe shoes into the back of the closet while they were looking for her softball bat from elementary school. Kei brought their mother home on the second day, and now the four of them spend their days and nights together. When Mio is scared, she gets protective, and if Mayu gets up to leave the room for even the smallest reason, she always comes back to find Mio standing in the doorway, waiting for her. Every few days, Kei goes out for food and water, and while he's gone Mio clings to Mayu's hand the whole time until he comes home, as if she's afraid Mayu might try to go after him.

So Mayu can't find it in herself to be sorry. It could be hell out there, but Mio is with her. Nothing else matters.

* * *

Finally, she decides it's been long enough.

At midnight she pulls herself out of bed, out of Mio's arms. "It's okay," she whispers, in response to Mio's sleepy protest, "I'll be right back."

They stopped sleeping in their old room because of its big windows, and Kei put a padlock on the door, so nothing could get in without breaking through and making enough noise to warn them. Mayu has to fetch the key from the kitchen drawer, and all the time she's afraid Mio will get up and ask her what she's doing, but when she goes back through the living room, Mio looks fast asleep again, cocooned in the quilt.

Their room is cold compared to the rest of the house, and stale from being shut up for so long. The book is still under Mayu's mattress. She left the charm inside as a marker, the little bundle of thread and paper, soaked in ink and other things that leave her fingertips stained and sour-smelling. She speaks the words, and pulls the cord to make the knot come loose, and feels something released like a breath.

The pages of the book are stained where the charm rested between them, but she can still make out the words at the top, the German words she translated as, "With this the dead are made to rise." She tears the page out, carefully, so there'll be no ripped edge to show that anything is missing, and then shreds what's left. She loses track of time a little, sifting through the paper pieces again and again to make sure not even a single letter is still legible. Then she transfers the pile into the waste basket under the desk, stirs the assorted rubbish until everything looks normal, and slips back down to bed.

Mio doesn't even stir when Mayu gets in beside her. For once, Mayu doesn't mind.

* * *

It takes the others a while to realise the threat has passed. Kei goes out for food and comes back sounding puzzled and somewhat optimistic. He still refuses to let his nieces go outside until he's sure it's safe, but eventually he has to. They've all been cooped up for too long.

Mio insists on going out first, armed with her old softball bat. It would probably break if she tried to hit anything with it, but Mayu appreciates the gesture. The street is empty, but the winter sun is weakly shining down, and there's a chill freshness to the air that feels like heaven after the weeks of confinement in the house. Mio lowers the bat and inhales deeply.

"It's safe after all. You can tell. That smell in the air is gone." She turns, eyes shining. "Shall we go for a walk? Just to the end of the street?"

"That sounds great," Mayu says. She can tell Mio doesn't want to go back inside again, not even for a moment, so she says, "I'll go and get our jackets."

With her own jacket on and Mio's over her arm, she takes the book, slips into Kei's study and drops it down the back of one of the shelves. Eventually he'll find it again, and think it fell there by itself. That could be years from now. No one will ever know why the dead walked that year, or why, after a few months, they lay down again, never to get up. The spell exists now only in Mayu's head — and she'll keep it there.

She doesn't think she'll need it again. But you can never tell what the future holds.

Mio is waiting for her by the gate, radiant with happiness at being outside, at being alive. It's obvious she wants to run, to dance and spin in the sunlight, but instead she takes Mayu's hand and they walk, like always, slowly, between the empty houses.


End file.
